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RIOT GAMES
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ABOUT Country: United States www.riotgames.com
To some, it’s hard to believe that Riot is already nearing its first decade of business. Every now and then more casual watchers will remark that the firm – responsible for just one game, League of Legends – has effectively come out of nowhere in tandem with the near-sudden renewed interest in eSports. But with 17 offices in cities around the world – Berlin, Brighton, Dublin, Hong Kong, STUDIO HOTLIST
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Istanbul, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Moscow, New York, St. Louis, Santiago, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Taipei, and Tokyo – this is clearly no flash in the pan. Certainly, the Chinese telecoms operator behemoth Tencent doesn’t think so; it acquired a majority stake the firm for over $200m – an impressive return for the investors that helped prop Riot’s debut up with $15m.
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League of Legends has been active for six years, and a development, production and writing staff of well over 1,000 are responsible for its upkeep, updates and upgrades. Industry estimates put its total income at over $1.5bn – but we imagine a third of that number comes from the non-software element of the business, the tournaments Riot runs to support the game and its fanbase. WWW.DEVELOP100.COM
12/10/15 09:50